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Friday, 30 December 2011

The Yearby Hoard (NZ600210)

In 1954, the
sleepy hamlet of Yearby, a little to the south of Redcar, hit the headlines when
the remains of two ceramic vessels were unearthed during ploughing. The pottery
was nothing more than rather coarse seventeenth century tableware, but what was
contained within caused a bit of a stir: a total of 1,197 silver coins dating
from 1551-1697.

The find was
quickly declared as ‘Treasure Trove’ and packed off to the BritishMuseum –
though I understand the hoard is now held by the DormanMuseum in Middlesbrough. The question is: what was it doing under a
farmer’s field in Cleveland?

The general
consensus seems to be that it was an illegally acquired ‘stash’ of some kind –
possibly connected to the activities surrounding a former landmark thereabouts.
For a large and ancient pigeon cote once adorned the hamlet*, and this would
have been used to breed and house birds for the sport of shooting. The theory
goes that at one such gathering of the local gentry, some local thief may have
made off with a ‘gambling pot’, hid it … then lost it!

More amusing
Yearby yarns can be perused here
(upon part of which the above article was based).

* I understand
this building has now been demolished – can anyone confirm this? Or does it
still exist? Is the dovecote shown here a modern incarnation?

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Otherwise known as Michael Southwick, I run the 'North-East History Tour' blog (and some other stuff). I love genealogy/history - especially anything to do with the North-East of England, and am always keen to learn more and pass knowledge onto others. I have also had a biography published on England's First Football Captain, namely, Cuthbert Ottaway.